We all have critical moments in our lives. Moments when we need to pay attention to everything going on around us and make sure that we double-check, or even triple-check our actions and behaviors. Paying attention requires focusing so much on the end result that we value each step in the process of arriving at our goals.
We don’t let anything go to chance because whatever we don’t pay attention to in the process is exactly what will creep up behind us and bite us in the ass. Awareness of your environment means that you ‘foresee’ what can go wrong; you anticipate the possibilities and make sure that you have done what is necessary to prevent unanticipated experiences.
Proper preparation for any event, situation, occurrence, circumstance or external behavior forces you to anticipate what can go wrong and make steps to prevent things from going wrong. You won’t always be successful, however most things are preventable when you pay attention to the ‘possibilities’ that can adversely affect your goals.
Anything worth doing in life is worth doing right. Letting things slide when they are ‘mission critical’ can cause hurt, pain and rejection. Make the time to check your actions carefully and prevent your own undoing by paying attention to as much as you can in your environment. After all, you and your goals are worth it! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
We have all heard the expression to forgive and forget. But what does that truly mean? Does it mean that we let go of what someone did and forget that it ever happened? Or does it mean that we absolve them of their behavior towards us and forget that they committed that behavior? It is hard for most people to understand that when someone does something ‘bad’ it doesn’t mean that they are ‘bad’. It simply means that at that moment they were acting ‘badly’. We are all capable of displaying endearing or aberrant behaviors depending upon the stresses of life and our ability to instantaneously switch from a ‘reactive’ mode to a ‘proactive’ mode. In reaction we recognize and believe in our separation from one another. In proactive mode we recognize and believe in our Oneness with one another.
In the reactive mode it is difficult to ‘separate’ the behavior from the person, while in the proactive mode we can separate the behavior from the person because we understand, from our acceptance of Oneness, that the other person is reacting to the stresses of their lives that we haven’t experienced. In other words, we haven’t walked a mile in their shoes and we give them the benefit of the doubt. Alexander Pope once said, "To err is human, to forgive, divine." What is it to forgive another? It is to absolve another of their behavior toward you by ceasing to resent them for committing that behavior. It means that you give up any feelings of being hurt by them for their behavior in order to sustain your ‘own’ peace.
What is it to forget? It is to cease to remember or take note of another’s behavior because you understand that they are NOT that behavior; they simply expressed that behavior before. It doesn’t mean that you forget that behavior; it means that you ‘forget’ that the person committed that behavior intentionally to hurt you (unless of course they did commit that behavior to intentionally hurt you). To forgive and forget means that you ‘separate’ the behavior from the person in order to understand their plight or reactions. It is putting you in their shoes in order to understand their journey. It means that you free yourself from the reactive feelings of being harmed or slighted. Lewis B. Smedes once said, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." When we don’t ‘forgive’ and ‘forget’ we are holding ourselves back from moving ahead unfettered by feelings of frustration and guilt. We are, in effect, stifling our progress because we cannot let go of the behaviors we don’t like or abhor.
Emotional reaction has a way of getting a grip on our beings that seems like it won’t ever let go. We rehash and repeat these self-defeating feelings and end up in an ‘endless loop’ of recycled reactions. Jump off the hamster wheel of self-sabotage and free yourself of reactive conclusions. Step into the light of proaction by forgiving others (and yourself) for aberrant behaviors and forgetting that the person committed that behavior if, and only if, they recognize their error. If they haven’t recognized that they have committed aberrant behaviors toward you forgive them but don’t forget what they have done; you haven’t any obligation to anyone to be their doormat.
However, if someone persists in aberrant behaviors towards you remove yourself from their sphere of influence. It is not necessary for you to remain around those who consistently exist in a pattern of unchecked and undisciplined behaviors that cause you to remember those behaviors. The very thing that irritates you about those behaviors will keep cropping up until you deal with them by removing yourself from your exposure to them. You are not obligated to keep re-learning the same lessons over and over again. If you are, you haven’t completely removed yourself from the influence of those behaviors over you. You are in a state of recycling those behaviors because you have focused your attention on those behaviors and your reactions to them; they have become a part of your comfort zone and you derive purpose and meaning from them.
Your Divine purpose and meaning in life is revealed and understood when you forgive others (and yourself) for aberrant past behaviors and reframe them as lessons learned. Just because you or others exhibited aberrance in the past doesn’t mean that you or others will continue to exhibit them in the future. Forgiveness loosens the bonds of guilt over those behaviors and forgetting the commission of those behaviors frees you from ‘separating’ yourself from others. It brings you together with others in the sense that you recognize that we are all connected through the Spirit of God and we have all, at one time or another, fallen short of being the perfect beings we were created to be.
When we decide to forgive and forget we are acknowledging that connection and we are proactively moving forward off of the hamster wheel of reactive recycling of guilt and aberrance. We are becoming free from the self-imposed binding of restrictive and erroneous beliefs that hold us back from manifesting our Divine purpose in Divine order. It is up to us to ‘be’ whom and what we were created to be. Until we align ourselves with that purpose in Divine order we will continue on the wheel of regret and withholding. It all starts with being able to ‘forgive and forget’ what we don’t want in our lives. Life is a process of holding onto what you want and letting go of what you don’t want. Free yourself from the chains of reaction and proact your way to freedom. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
SITE HOSTING
NATURAL FOOD MARKET
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ROGER
VIDEOS
SERVICE IN PRAYER
Elizabeth and I would like to invite you all to our site ‘Service In Prayer’. For many months we have been led to offer a way for our online friends to have a forum to share our prayer needs with each other.
The purpose of this website is to connect with one another and share our needs for healing in whatever areas we feel we need. Please visit the website or go to the Facebook forum to post any public prayers on the Wall or PM us for private prayers.
We will pray for you or help you to find Prayer Partners to assist you in healing and realization of your Divine purpose and the unfolding of it in Divine order.
Thank you all for your support, kindness and for blessing us with your ongoing friendship. Peace and blessings to all of you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
OUR PAST ISSUES
Did you miss any of the issues of The Spirituality Post Daily? If so, following are the links to each and every day for you to peruse. Please visit our advertisers and help us to keep going in our service to the spiritual community of souls who long for a greater spiritual perspective on life. God bless you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
What you think, feel, say or do has nothing to do with who and what I am, who or what I aspire to be or how I have fallen short of your expectations of me.
What I think, feel, say or do has nothing to do with who and what you are, who or what you aspire to be or how you have fallen short of my expectations of you. Now that we have that straight, what’s left?
We accept each other for whom and what we are now, who and what we aspire to be and we both let go of how we have expected each other to be. When we reach this mutual understanding we are living in a dynamic state of Divine love.
Remember, we are the ones who separate ourselves from our mutual good and Divine love. Divine love is the state of unity, Oneness and understanding that creates perfection within. Be ye therefore perfect in Divine love and share it with all. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
JOKING?
Liz just told me about a friend at church once said to her when she made a self-deprecating ‘joke’ about herself; she said, “The universe doesn’t know you are joking.” WTF??? How did she know whether the universe could take a joke or not? Is she the Secretary of Divine Humor or something?
Too many people still don’t fully understand that saying something in humor is NOT asking for it to happen to them. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and a joke is just a joke; nothing more and nothing less.
Lighten up people and laugh a little. The more serious you become the more you cut yourself off from the freedom and benefits of humor. Life in itself is too funny at times and if you fail to see the humor in it, you’ll miss the joy of living! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
SPIRITUALITY GUIDANCE
What is the Spirituality Guidance Channel? SGC is a video portal designed to introduce spiritually inclined individuals to be exposed to spiritual videos, radio, teachers, music, art, books, resources and links from a selected group of teachers and requests from viewers. Each featured coach/teacher will have their own page highlighting any videos, audios, websites or printed material they have produced. This portal will be regularly promoted on the Internet through social networking and targeted marketing channels. Please visit the website at the following address:http://www.spiritualityguidance.com and email me at webproducer@hotmail.com with any suggestions, links or materials. Thank you for your most courteous participation in this project. I welcome your input. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
LOSING AMBITION?
The myth of "losing ambition to work to improve themselves" comes from an egotistical conclusion by those who have financially raped others and perpetrated it onto the rest of us.
Why? Because they want us to look at the poor with disdain instead of compassion. When we buy into that complete and utter bullshit we are being fooled by the unscrupulous morons who repeatedly try to manipulate what Yeshua said to their own ends.
They are vipers, liars and control freaks and we should put them in their place; a living hell! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP
Every day I give thanx for the gift of your friendship. Coming to FB is like opening that gift again each and every day. The surprise of not knowing what is beneath the wrapping is exhilarating and gratifying.
As I have come to know all of you better and better I so thankful that I am here and participating. Sharing IS the greatest gift of all and I enjoy sharing with all of your every day.
Your intelligence, your love and your support are something I thoroughly enjoy experiencing in my life. Thank you all and I can’t wait to rip open the new gift wrapping tomorrow! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
WEB RADIO INTERVIEWS
Click the following link to go to my Web Radio Interviews with Real Coaching Radio Network’s Coach Steve Toth, It’s Not Law And Order’s Dr. D, The Way Of Consciousness Radio’s Bishop Lee Peterson and Live Paranormal presents Spiritual Spectrum with Father Michael Sherbert. Enjoy!~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
THE PATH OF INFINITY
You are a spiritual being expressing the essence of Divine love physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
You come to know this by transcending the external illusion that you are other than a spiritual being.
You transcend the illusion by removing erroneous beliefs and sharing Divine love with all.
You remove erroneous beliefs by listening to Divine guidance and trusting in it completely.
You trust in Divine guidance by daily communion with the Divine and faithing your spirit into the perceived external illusion.
You become fulfilled by sharing exactly what you desire with all whom you encounter.
You give thanks to the Divine by being whom and what you were created to be; a spiritual being expressing the essence of Divine love in all you think, feel, believe, say and do.
You live in Divine love by knowing that you are blessed.
~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS
What you may never realize is that your realization of reality is from your consciousness and your consciousness only reacts to or proacts from copies of images, words and feelings that you get from your experiences and the beliefs you accept as real.
If you realize this and do nothing to remove your erroneous beliefs that are stifling you, then you are living in your comfort zone and choose not to expand your character.
If you realize this and remove your erroneous beliefs then you are expanding your inner view to create an outer expression that matches the copy you perceive in your consciousness.
What pictures, words and feelings are you experiencing? Lack and limitation or bountiful abundance? It is your choice. What are you choosing? ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Currently Bobby Hinkle, Elizabeth
May Sutor and Dean A. Banks, D.D. have uploaded podcasts. Robert Yarbrough will be added soon. Just click on the podcasters placards below and click on the Podcast title. Currently there are five podcasts on Bobby Hinkle's page, one on Elizabeth Sutor's page and nine on Dean A. Banks, D.D.'s page. Stay tuned for more! Thank you for choosing us!
What is the Spirituality Guidance Channel? SGC is a video portal designed to introduce spiritually inclined individuals to be exposed to spiritual videos, radio, teachers, music, art, books, resources and links from a selected group of teachers and requests from viewers. Each featured coach/teacher will have their own page highlighting any videos, audios, websites or printed material they have produced. This portal will be regularly promoted on the Internet through social networking and targeted marketing channels. Please visit the website at the following address:
http://www.spiritualityguidance.com and email me at webproducer@hotmail.com with any suggestions, links or materials. Thank you for your most courteous participation in this project. I welcome your input. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Welcome to our new Sunday Morning Service by Dr. Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Every week Dr. Dean will be engaging subjects that are pertinent to your growth and expansion into recognition of; respect to; and communication with your inner spirit.
Please feel free to comment or suggest topics for review. May the Divine always bless you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
When you realize that you have forgotten more than you’ve remembered, you begin to realize that you have remembered what you needed to be; whom and what you were created to be! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
When you realize that you were created perfectly to be the perfect being you are, you will be that perfect being perfectly. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
When you realize that you are the arms, legs, eyes and ears of the Divine, you will begin to live in your divinity with purpose and Divine love each and every day of your life. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Watch your destiny; it becomes who and what you were created to be. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
The sanctity of life is not known by some; they see no value in it because they don't understand or appreciate the miracle of life. Out of the chaos of this omniverse life was created. It has value and must be respected; those who don't have lost their very soul. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Most people don't think; they emotionally react to what they perceive is happening in relation to their beliefs; whether sound or erroneous. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
If I witness people that are emotionally reacting to life and NOT thinking, I am NOT judging them for their behavior; I am simply pointing out that fact. When I form an opinion and ‘come down’ on a person for not thinking am I now judging them?
I can discern the behavior of others and judge the person for displaying that behavior or I can discern the behavior of others and forgive that person for displaying that behavior.
Pointing out aberrant behavior is not necessarily ‘judging’ another; but when someone comes back at you for pointing that out and says that you are ‘judging’, then what exactly is that? ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
What is the Spirituality Guidance Channel? SGC is a video portal designed to introduce spiritually inclined individuals to be exposed to spiritual videos, radio, teachers, music, art, books, resources and links from a selected group of teachers and requests from viewers. Each featured coach/teacher will have their own page highlighting any videos, audios, websites or printed material they have produced. This portal will be regularly promoted on the Internet through social networking and targeted marketing channels. Please visit the website at the following address:http://www.spiritualityguidance.com and email me at webproducer@hotmail.com with any suggestions, links or materials. Thank you for your most courteous participation in this project. I welcome your input. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
EBOOKS
THE CONSERVATIVE MINDSET
The conservative mindset of sticking with what ‘works’ despite the dynamic changes occurring in the environment is like trying to fill a bucket of water that is already filled. If the bucket is filled it cannot retain any more water! If you get another bucket you can start to fill that bucket. Duh?
The liberal mindset of altering what ‘works’ to meet the needs of dynamic environmental changes allows another bucket to be put alongside of the original bucket to retain the water. Conservatively speaking, resources (supply), whether they are apparently available or not, are always limited and must be manipulated to meet the demands; and this is where those (the corporate capitalists) who control the flow of resources make a profit from the propaganda that resources are limited.
Liberally speaking, resources (supply), whether they are apparently available or not, are always abundant because of new ways of tapping the already available resources to meet the demands; and this is where those (the true capitalists) who control the flow of resources make a profit from the fact that because of the new ways of tapping resources that our resources are abundant!
The courts of the USA are notoriously 30 years behind social changes because of conservative ‘values’. Values that are stagnant and unmoving because of sticking with what politicians decide is what ‘works’. We, the people, need to remove the ‘stick-in-the-mud’ egomaniacs that resist change for their own selfish gain. Make it punishable for ALL representatives who conduct OUR business to their own selfish gain.
When these selfish representatives leave office they take their knowledge to the private sector and the corporations gain knowledge of how government works so they can effectively ‘grease the wheels’ to their advantage.
Money gets exchanged from business into government for the apparent ’greater good’ of all. True, yet someone in the middle always makes a profit from ‘our’ greater good! This, in itself, creates more problems because government cannot effectively function without investing in its own society. Infrastructure, job development and healthcare checks and balances MUST be instituted in order to positively affect its constituency.
The main problem is that our representatives are the ones who decide what punishment that they get. How can anyone punish themselves for actions that will ultimately benefit themselves and their families? We need to enforce and punish our representatives for acts against the people who put them into office. Until then, nothing will change. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
CRITICAL THINKING
As with anything in life, there will always be the pull away from the shared values of liberal agendas by the conservative egotistical proponents of greed and manipulation of others.
Education in critical thinking for all children will teach them how to spot these types and not listen to their B.S.
Only then will we be able to work together in designing and implementing a world that aligns itself with the Spirit of God and NOT the egos of those who control, dominate and manipulate others to their own selfish ends.
It’s time to move from me, me, me into we, we, we! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
HEART MEMORIES
How you react to your environment affects your heart memory. The subsequent emotions you express result from pre-programmed beliefs reacting to what you perceive as safety or danger.
Every time you instantaneously ‘react’ from an internal program it affects your heart memory. From these repeated thoughts and thought-memories comes an assessment and evaluation that we store as beliefs. From your heart come the heart memories that allow you to plan your journey and arrive safely at your destination.
Listening to the still small voice of the Divine within you every day opens your heart to receive Divine guidance; which, step by step, actualizes your Divine purpose in Divine order. The Divine establishes your steps when you listen to Divine guidance and you arrive safely at your destination of individual fulfillment.
However, when you listen to the selfish earnings of your ego you will trip over you own feet. You will go where you don’t need to go; you will do what you don’t need to do; you will get distracted from doing what you need to do to unfold your Divine purpose in Divine order perfectly.
Inner guidance comes from your inner well-being when you slow down, remove the outer chaos and listen to the Divine’s voice of silence. Being present in the stillness relaxes you and removes the stresses from the outer world. It is the most necessary time of your day.
Meditation affords you the way to go deep within and allow that which knows what to do to show you what you need to do. If you don’t make the time to go within and listen, then how will you ever know the correct way to proceed? If you truly want to be whom and what you were created to be you must make the time to go within daily!
Use your heart memory and Divine inspiration to traverse your journey safely. The more you listen, the more you flow. The more you flow, the more you allow. The more you allow, the more you realize. Realization of what you need to do to unfold your Divine purpose in Divine order is the first step.
Moving toward that Divine purpose requires you making the time to live in inner peace and well-being. Listening to Divine guidance and acting on that guidance is the only way for you to experience true happiness. Happiness comes from living in the joy of Divine love each and every day of your life. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
CHECK YOUR FACTS!
Are you so sure of yourself that you neglect to check your facts before you open your mouth? Are you so convinced that what you believe is the truth that you fudge the facts just to prove your point? Are you so committed to others believing you that you would outright lie to substantiate your claims?
If so, you need to realize that your ego is out of control. It is so committed to enforcing your beliefs on others that it will do anything to be recognized for its ingenuity, cunning and grasp of the ‘facts’. You see, your ego survives on the pats on the back it gets from you and others for ensuring your self-survival.
It doesn’t care who it hurts in the process as long as it wins. It isn’t concerned with a shared or absolute truth; it only cares about a truth where it is recognized for being the one where truth originates. It isn’t your friend when it comes to the truth and others; it is the one that convinces you that you are right no matter what you have done.
It is tricky and will control, dominate and manipulate the ‘facts’ in order to carve an opinion based on what it wants you to believe. It is your friend when it comes to physically and emotionally protecting you from what it perceives as harmful to you. It is up to you to regularly commune with the Divine to receive the proper guidance in moving forward for the benefit of yourself AND others.
The result of this communion allows you to ‘check’ the demands of your ego and allow the Spirit of God to move Divine love through you and actualize your Divine purpose in Divine order. Be aware, be diligent and be loving. Give yourself a break and do the same for others. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Are you being financially raped or are you being a sloth at work? Who determines what is the 'sloth factor'? Is it conjecture or fact? Is it management perpetrating its guilt upon those they are just barely paying enough so that they have to show up every day to do a 'job' that they cannot afford to be without? Are banks and corporations financially raping their workers and clients or are workers being ‘sloths’ in the work environment? Let's examine the truth here and not supposition.
Last year I was informed by an obvious neophyte who takes what the Bible says literally that I don’t have a clue what I am talking about and that it is my ego that has ‘attacked’ her for making obvious conclusions about the ‘Word’ that are just not true by her understanding. When anyone misses the theme of what has been said in the ‘Word’ it reveals that their understanding has fallen short of what was actually being said and what meaning is derived from what is said.
Yeshua demonstrated what he said time and time again and if anyone misses the ‘results’ of those demonstrations in accordance with the ‘Word’ it reveals that their understanding is not taking the whole picture into account. When anyone uses other people to take advantage of them they are not aligning themselves with the Spirit of God. They are taking what they have been freely given and using it to hurt or exploit another.
Why would anyone with half-a-brain defend the aberrance of ‘financial rape’ unless they do not have a complete understanding of this principle? Why would they attack someone who points this out and accuse them of judging another instead of seeing that what was said was in alignment with the teachings of Yeshua? Why would they attack that person and claim that their ego is out of control? Is it because they believe it is OK to financially rape another human being? Or is it because they do not completely understand the ‘theme’ of what is being said?
Whatever it may be one thing is obvious. When you defend aberrant behaviors, infirmities and ego you are not clearly seeing the truth. Perhaps I am just as guilty as this person but I will NOT compromise on the FACT that if you use another person for your own gain without fairly compensating them you are taking advantage of them and you are NOT following divine principles; you are being selfish and self-centered. If anyone cannot see this, I sincerely hope and pray that perhaps someday you will. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Never let the sheer and utter ignorance of another dull your edge. They are where they are because of their level of understanding and what they do or say about your level of understanding doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. If their understanding of anything contradicts with the lessons you have learned from observing your experiences, then toss it aside as only being of value to them where they are right now in their lives.
Keep your edge sharp and refined by listening to the still small voice of the Divine only and not the whimperings of those who only half-understand the truth. Know deep within your heart that what you understand is based on your observations of the experiences you have encountered in your life. They are the whetstone for sharpening the edge of your Divine purpose.
Reject what you know is not true to you and don’t resist what they claim is the truth; in reality it is their truth and NOT yours. Accept what you know is true and allow that truth to guide you to complete and utter fulfillment each and every day of your life. As always, it is your choice to believe what others say or go within and know what the Divine is revealing to you. Instead of listening to your ego’s selfish yearnings listen to Divine guidance and be exactly whom and what you were created to be.
When you know what you know, feel what you feel, believe what you believe, say what you say and do what you do you are aligned with whom and what you are. When you think you know what you know, feel uncomfortable with yourself as you are, believe something you don’t completely believe, say what pleases others or do what pleases them and not yourself, you are not in alignment with your Divine purpose. You are living up to what others expect of you and not what you were created to be.
Cast off the chains of self-restraint you use in order to please anyone or everyone; be whom and what you were created to be by letting go of everything that challenges you from fulfilling your Divine purpose in Divine order. Only you can do this. Only you can allow what is your greater good to express itself through you! Do it NOW! May God be with you every step of your way. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
OUT OF CONTROL
Are you so sure of yourself that you neglect to check your facts before you open your mouth? Are you so convinced that what you believe is the truth that you fudge the facts just to prove your point? Are you so committed to others believing you that you would outright lie to substantiate your claims? If so, you need to realize that your ego is out of control. It is so committed to enforcing your beliefs on others that it will do anything to be recognized for its ingenuity, cunning and grasp of the ‘facts’.
You see, your ego survives on the pats on the back it gets from you and others for ensuring your self-survival. It doesn’t care who it hurts in the process as long as it wins. It isn’t concerned with a shared or absolute truth; it only cares about a truth where it is recognized for being the one where truth originates. It isn’t your friend when it comes to the truth and others; it is the one that convinces you that you are right no matter what you have done.
It is tricky and will control, dominate and manipulate the ‘facts’ in order to carve an opinion based on what it wants you to believe. It is your friend when it comes to physically and emotionally protecting you from what it perceives as harmful to you. It knows its job quite well and it will go out of its way to ensure that you are perceived as being correct, truthful and supportive of others; when in fact, it will sell others down the river to protect you from physical, emotional, mental or spiritual harm. It loves to steer the wheel and have you recognize it as the driver of your life.
What do you do to not be tricked by your ego? You evaluate its choices based on a barometer of Divine love. If what it chooses to do hurts, harms or maligns others, then it is only thinking of itself and its selfish agenda. The Spirit of God will always guide you think of yourself AND others; not just yourself!
It is up to you to regularly commune with the Divine to receive the proper guidance in moving forward for the benefit of yourself AND others. The result of this communion allows you to ‘check’ the demands of your ego and allow the Spirit of God to move Divine love through you and actualize your Divine purpose in Divine order. Be aware, be diligent and be loving. Give yourself a break and do the same for others. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
It's certainly tempting to just immediately say 'No, of course witches don't believe in the devil!' But today I'd like to take the time to think deeply about this question and I don't think the answer is as clear cut as many would suggest. To begin with, not all witches believe in the divine or would consider themselves religious. To me, witchcraft is a practice or something you do and as such it can be completely void of any belief in the divine. And if you choose to perform witchcraft without the addition of divine energy than of course the answer would be irrelevant as the devil is Christian religious entity.
There are, however, many witches who do channel divine power for their witchcraft practice. Sometimes this may include calling upon the power of the Goddess and the God. The god in this case is sometimes called the Green Man or the Horned one and can appear as a satyr type figure with horns or hooves. This archetype is inspired by pre-christian gods like the Greek God Pan or the Celtic God Cernunnos. This pagan God rules over the wild energy of the forest, our own human sexuality, and is a manifestation of the masculine energy in the world. Like many pagan Gods, he is neither good nor bad as Pagan societies did not view their religious figures in a rigid binary system.
When Christianity came to Europe it viewed chastity and modesty being righteous and sexual freedom as being immoral. So naturally, this put figures like Pan and Cernunnos in a difficult spot. Over time Christians overlaid their own story of the Devil with the much older masculine archetypes of pre-christian Gods, which is why the Devil often looks like the Greek God Pan. This is why it’s so difficult to say if witches work with the energy of the Devil. If a witch is calling upon the divine masculine energy of the wild, are they working with the Devil?
To complicate matters further, there are also some witches to do work with the Christianized concept of the Devil as opposed to the Pagan masculine archetype. Some believe that the Devil represents the very embodiment and power of witchcraft. In Christianity the Devil is connected with things such as ecstatic pleasure, celebrations, feasting, and unbridled revelry. These are things that are often connected to various witchcraft traditions. This concept of the Devil is still somewhat removed from the character of Satan - the one who casts evil doers into the fiery realms of hell. So in that way, you could say that yes, some witches do celebrate the wild and unpredictable power of the ‘Devil’, but not the fire and brimstone figure that is Satan.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are many witches that do not work with the wild masculine energy at all. There are some groups, like the Dianic witches, who focus more on the Goddess and the ideas of the sacred feminine. There are also groups that work with a much more watered down version of the sacred masculine that is very much removed from the idea of the Devil. So once again I leave you to determine the direction of your own spiritual path and which, if any, divine forces you will choose to work with in your witchcraft practice.
So, to conclude, I think this question is more complicated and I don't believe a 'yes' or 'no' answer would suffice. To practice witchcraft requires a thinking beyond the binary of Good vs. Evil (or God vs. Devil) to which most belief systems are based.
Unlike the Abrahamic traditions, Witchcraft is not based upon a strict division of what is good and what is evil. Witches use nature to fuel their concept of the divine and in the world of nature there is no battle between good and evil. A lion is not ‘evil’ because it kills the gazelle, and a deer is not ‘good’ because it eats only plants. Nature is both cruel and beautiful at the same time. Likewise, witchcraft can be used for both positive and malevolent gains.
With witchcraft there is no governing body or official rule book telling you what you can and cannot do. Witchcraft is not something that was invented and controlled - it has always existed. The power of witchcraft lays within the plants, the moon, the stars, and ourselves. Witches over time learned to tap into this natural power and created spells for what they needed help with in their day to day lives. There have been many witches that have cast curses against others from time to time and there have been many that have dedicated their craft to healing and helping others. There are some witchcraft traditions, like Traditional Witchcraft, that are not morally opposed to hexes and will perform them if a significant need arises. There are also some belief structures, like Wicca, where most of the followers are very much morally opposed to casting hexes and curses.
How you choose to perform witchcraft is entirely up to you, and the moral consequences of those actions will likewise lie entirely on your own shoulders. Witchcraft respects that you are an individual, capable of defining and establishing your own sense of morality and justice.
What are your thoughts on this? I'd love for fellow witches to share their thoughts in the comments section. Do my ideas resonate with you or am I way off the mark?
STEALING YOUR JOY
When you allow someone to steal your joy you believe it wasn't yours to begin in with; if you did, you would have secured its status, held on to its benefit and kept it within.
Letting go of what keeps you focused is allowing fear to take hold in your heart and decide your direction.
Maintain your joy, which is your inner power of love keeping you focused, and let all negativity, control, domination and manipulation of others to pass through you without attaching any emotion to it whatsoever.
Your joy is yours when you know it is your natural state of existence. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Our Daily Reading for June 13th -
"Pick A Pile All Zodiac Reading Air, Water, Earth Fire "DREAMS & ART Imitating LIFE! Mirrors!"
by Angels Whisper
Day after day, post after post and saying after saying we see the suggestion that we are not perfect. Is there honor in claiming that we are not perfect? Is it considered that claiming imperfection is being more spiritual? Or is it a subtle and low key suggestion that reinforces our perceived separation from the Divine?
Being perfect means conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type; excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement; exactly fitting the need in a certain situation or for a certain purpose; entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings; accurate, exact, or correct in every detail [dictionary.com].
When we allow the flow of Divine love to move through us we are conforming absolutely to the ideal of Divine love; as it flows through us we are the personification of excellence. We are exactly fitting the need for our Divine purpose to be manifested in Divine order. We are in the flow and any shortcomings, flaws or defects are no longer apparent and no longer distract us from our primary focus; sharing Divine love. We become accurate, exact and correct in every detail; we become the expression of Divine perfection.
When we listen to sayings, quotes and aphorisms that suggest or reinforce the fact that we are not perfect beings created perfectly by the Divine, we begin to develop inner beliefs that this is so. When we believe that we are not perfect, we will create ongoing expressions that reinforce those beliefs. Accept your Divine perfection and allow it to flow through you unfettered by the erroneous beliefs that we are not perfect beings created perfectly by the Divine to manifest our Divine purposes in Divine order. The acceptance and allowance of this is NOT ego fooling itself; it is Divine love relaying the truth to your being and bathing you with the essence of the Divine.
When you believe that you are not perfect it is the ego telling you this because it wants you to depend on it for its ‘wisdom’ and guidance. There is no wisdom with the ego; there is only knowledge and belief that is used to ensure your survival in the physical realm of existence. It you truly want to ‘realize’ and operate from the Spirit of God within you it is necessary for you to accept and allow your Divine perfection. If you don’t, you will continue to live from the ego’s guidance and continue in believing its deception that it is correct in believing your imperfection.
The most effective tool the ego has is in the belief that you are ‘separate’ from the Divine. Your acceptance of this is the foothold it gains on maintaining the beliefs that you are imperfect as a being. You are a spiritual being experiencing life in the physical realm in which you express your divinity through your body by your thoughts, beliefs, words, actions and behaviors. If you believe you are imperfect, then you will express that imperfection to match those inner beliefs. It you believe you are divinely perfect, then you will express that perfection to match those inner beliefs.
To enter the Kingdom of God the key is not in righteous and pious behavior, but by faithing in the perfection of Divine love. If you repeatedly separate yourself from Divine love by defending your beliefs that you are imperfect, then you are, in effect, separating yourself from living in the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is within you right now and it is the impression of peace and the expression of perfection. Be ye therefore PERFECT, as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Listen, believe and express Divine love; that is living in perfection. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
God, to me, is the Divine Infinite Creator Spirit of God that exists beyond our comprehension in the stillness and silence of spirit. That spirit is at the center of all existence and radiates Divine love into all of creation. It is not an anthropomorphic being who sits on a throne in judgment of ‘His’ creation. It is the source of all that has been and ever will be created. Aligning myself with my Divine purpose in Divine order is my daily goal. The Divine is the most important ‘thing’ in my life.
Every day I pray for guidance, meditate to listen for guidance and serve others with the blessings I have been so graciously given. I pray by asking and visualizing, meditate by closing off the outer world and going deep within my being to my center of peace and I experience the joy of existing by serving others with the talents, skills and abilities that I have been given through Divine love.
When our physical bodies die our souls no longer exist; it is the combination of the Spirit of God within our bodies and our bodies that comprise our living souls. We are divine (spirit) and corporeal (body) existing together as a living and breathing soul. Our ‘spirits’ unfold into our bodies during the course of our lives and refold into the omniverse upon our deaths.
Our ‘energy’ of consciousness can never be created or destroyed; it just simply changes form. We are spiritual beings having a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experience from our bodies in life and our consciousness of that experience continues after our bodies die.
We are never separated from the Divine love of the Creator; it is our perceptions that convince us that we are and when we learn to dismiss those perceptions as illusions of the ego we become free at last. Death is a part of life and is nothing to be feared. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
WHAT IS GOD?
God, to me, is the Divine Infinite Creator Spirit of God that exists beyond our comprehension in the stillness and silence of spirit. That spirit is at the center of all existence and radiates Divine love into all of creation. It is not an anthropomorphic being who sits on a throne in judgment of ‘His’ creation. It is the source of all that has been and ever will be created.
Aligning myself with my Divine purpose in Divine order is my daily goal. The Divine is the most important ‘thing’ in my life. Every day I pray for guidance, meditate to listen for guidance and serve others with the blessings I have been so graciously given. I pray by asking and visualizing, meditate by closing off the outer world and going deep within my being to my center of peace and I experience the joy of existing by serving others with the talents, skills and abilities that I have been given through Divine love.
When our physical bodies die our souls no longer exist; it is the combination of the Spirit of God within our bodies and our bodies that comprise our living souls. We are divine (spirit) and corporeal (body) existing together as a living and breathing soul. Our ‘spirits’ unfold into our bodies during the course of our lives and refold into the omniverse upon our deaths.
Our ‘energy’ of consciousness can never be created or destroyed; it just simply changes form. We are spiritual beings having a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experience from our bodies in life and our consciousness of that experience continues after our bodies die. We are never separated from the Divine love of the Creator; it is our perceptions that convince us that we are and when we learn to dismiss those perceptions as illusions of the ego we become free at last. Death is a part of life and is nothing to be feared.
Our daily challenge becomes to live in spirit while dancing with our ego. It is learning to placate the whims of our selfish ego while fulfilling the inner guidance from the Spirit of God. We are a dichotomy of the yearnings of our egos and the desires of our spirit that appear to struggle with each other to be fulfilled. The fact is that the spirit NEVER struggles; it is the ego that struggles to control, dominate and manipulate ourselves and others to fulfill its selfish agenda. Allowing the desires of our spirit to unfold creates the joy of living in peace and understanding while sharing Divine love. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
MORE SAYINGS
When the teacher is ready the student will disappear... ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
You cannot be a part of the solution until you are a part of the problem... ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
There is nothing wrong with earning a living from your labors; however, when you earn your living from raping others financially that, in itself, is a crime against humanity. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. ~Proverbs 16:9 ESV
Why do you second guess yourself when you know deep within you lies the love to create perfection in your life? Why? Why? ~Dean A. Banks
“The secret to happiness is very simple. You make the choice to be happy and simply do what you love doing.” ~Tao
Sounds too simple? It is and that's why too many people ignore this. Only in simplicity do we manage complexity and manifest divinity. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
We will only experience the blessings of Divine peace when we respect all of life equally. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
You are the expression of divinity in action. Act and express accordingly and you will know what to do, when to do it, where to do it, how to do it, why to do it and whom to do it with to express Divine love for the betterment of all. Be responsible and accountable and the blessings of Divine love will guide your life each and every day. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Feeling worthy to receive Divine blessings comes from accepting who and what you are and allowing it to be who and what you are; divine love in action! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
Those who live in fear must defend their aberrance because they don't know that we are all connected through the Spirit of God within. Only when they stop living from their egos will they learn the truth that they are living in fear. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
When you believe you cannot be wealthy it is this belief that is limiting your abundance. Your divinity is the expression of health, wealth, prosperity and abundance. It is your ego that limits your expression because it wants you to believe it is God. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
ONLY YOU CAN DO THIS
When you know what you know, feel what you feel, believe what you believe, say what you say and do what you do you are aligned with whom and what you are.
When you think you know what you know, feel uncomfortable with yourself as you are, believe something you don’t completely believe, say what pleases others or do what pleases them and not yourself, you are not in alignment with your Divine purpose.
You are living up to what others expect of you and not what you were created to be. Cast off the chains of self-restraint you use in order to please anyone or everyone; be whom and what you were created to be by letting go of everything that challenges you from fulfilling your Divine purpose in Divine order.
Only you can do this. Do it NOW! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
DON'T DULL YOUR EDGE
Never let the sheer and utter ignorance of another dull your edge. They are where they are because of their level of understanding and what they do or say about your level of understanding doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. If their understanding of anything contradicts with the lessons you have learned from observing your experiences, then toss it aside as only being of value to them where they are right now in their lives.
Keep your edge sharp and refined by listening to the still small voice of the Divine only and not the whimperings of those who only half-understand the truth. Know deep within your heart that what you understand is based on your observations of the experiences you have encountered in your life. They are the whetstone for sharpening the edge of your Divine purpose.
Reject what you know is not true to you and don’t resist what they claim is the truth; in reality it is their truth and NOT yours. Accept what you know is true and allow that truth to guide you to complete and utter fulfillment each and every day of your life. May God be with you every step of your way. ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.
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